Chapter 5- Happee Birday ‘Arry

Chapter 5- Happee Birday ‘Arry!!

“Waking up wasn’t extremely easy this particular morning. As luck should have it, I have a slight headache… guess drinking that whole bottle of Absolute wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done. But all’s well. It’s July 31st, and in turn, it’s my twentieth birthday. Sirius is obviously making breakfast, because this whole place smells incredible. And I can hear the impatient hoots of numerous owls. My fans love me too much.”

Harry put his journal back under the mattress of his bed and picked up his wand. With a simple flick of his wrist he felt his headache leave, and he slipped into his long boxers and a t-shirt before walking out of the bedroom to the balcony doors. He was right, there were numerous owls. There were 18 of them sitting impatiently for him to either let them all in, or to take their bundles. Only 6 of them he recognized.

“Rascal,” he said, calling Hermione’s owl in.

“Pig, Hermes,” he did the same for Ron’s owls.

“Hogwart’s Postal Service.” he laughed a bit at this.

As all of them flew in, he noticed that one carried a fairly large box, and wondered how it was possible for the owl to carry it, but he didn’t verbally ask the question. For all he knew, he’d offend it, and he didn’t need a pissy owl on his hands at the moment.

He moved to each one and took their packages, laying them on the floor where they had landed. He signaled for them to all wait, and walked into the kitchen. From the cupboard he took a large canister of owl treats and gave them each a handful before moving out onto the balcony. One by one he took the letters and small presents from his fans and gave the owls a few treats before sending them off, each with thank you note conjured up for them to take back. Although he hated the celebrity of it, he did love his fans.

“They’ll never stop if you send their owls back happy, fed and with notes of encouragement tied to their legs.” Sirius said as Harry replaced the canister.

“I love my fans, and they know it. Besides, I’m not the kind of person to send a hungry owl back without a reply, am I? They travel from all over the wizarding world to deliver their messages and gifts, and I’ll be damned if I send them back starving.”

“You always did have a big heart Harry Potter, and I wonder if that’s a good thing.”

Both men laughed, and Harry brought the gifts from his closest and oldest friends into the kitchen, setting them down on the table. He conjured up a few perches, and the owls flew to them gratefuly. The Hogwart’s owls noticed Hedwig’s perch, complete with food dish and running water, and one eyed it strangely. Harry smiled and held his arm out to it.

“Hedwig won’t mind, I’m sure. She remembers what it was like to be in the owlery.” he said as he moved the bird to the fancy perch. “Go ahead. You’ll all get a turn, I promise.”

The owls all hooted in agreement, and Sirius laughed at his Godson. He knew that if Hedwig came home, she’d be pissed. All these owls at HER house, eating out of HER dishes, taking attention away from HER. But he also knew that Harry would make it better in an instant.

“So let’s see what I’ve got!” Harry laughed, rubbing his hands together.

He started with Hermione’s gift, and smiled at what she had sent him. Sirius obviously thought it was strange, because Harry saw his Godfather’s eyebrow go up, and brow furrow.

“Dragon’s blood and a dragon egg. Some sort of inside joke between you two?”

“Kind of. This is sorta a joint gift between her and Hagrid. You wouldn’t remember Norbert, would you?”

“The dragon you said Rubeus had?”

“Yes. Well as luck should have it, ‘Norbert’ was a girl, and this is one of her eggs. Hagrid knew that I love dragons, and thought it would be an awsome gift to give me for my birthday. Unfortunately, he’s not allowed to own one, let alone keep one, so the ministry wouldn’t allow him to get them. Hermione made a few trips to Romania to visit Charlie Weasley, and let’s just say that it did her quite a bit of good.”

“Strange…”

Sirius turned back to making breakfast as Harry opened Ron’s gift.

“Hey Harry! I heard from Oliver that you’re takin’ a break from the Cannons for awhile, and well, we don’t want the worlds best seeker to get out of practice, do we!” he read alloud as he unwrapped the small object. “Oh. My. GOD!” he shoulded.

“What! What is it!?” Sirius nearly dropped the hot frying pan he was flipping pancakes in.

“It’s a Snitch!”
”But you have one already, don’t you?”
”Yes, but LOOK at it Sirius! The bloody thing is made out of PLATINUM, engraved with my name, and the Griffindor Crest! This fucking thing must have cost him a FORTUNE!!”

As he laid the snitch out on his flat palm, the silvery wings unwrapped themselves and it zipped around the room before landing again in Harry’s hand. He smiled at the gift and placed it back in its box. He’d have to beat Ron later for it.

He opened the package from Hagrid, which as it normally was, was a cake and tin of Treacle Fudge. Harry smiled and opened the largest package. From what he could tell, it was from Lupin, and there was definitly a weight charm on it so that the owl could carry it. He nearly passed out as his eyes rested on the sleek broom that laid before him. The words “Star Chaser Infinity+” were recessed into the stick, and he could feel the power radiating from it.

“This… This is the best broom out there…” he stuttered as Sirius brought his plate over. “And it’s so expensive that not even I could afford it! Not even MALFOY could have afforded it!!”

“Yes, well you see… uh… how do I put this? Moony and I… we sorta kinda know the man who designed it…”

“You WHAT?!”

“His name was James Potter… and well…”
”My Dad designed this broom?”

“Your father loved flying, and he found it only appropriate that he design the best broom out there. So while Moony and I were going through our old Marauder stuff, we found the designs and went to the people that designed your Firebolt+.”

“And..?”

“And this is their redition of your dad’s design, and the first off the production line, at absolutely no cost. Should by chance it need to be repaired, just take it to them, and they’ll patch it right up, free of charge. There’s some sort of magic on it too, so that only YOU can use it. I will warn you though, it’s faster than anything you’ve ever known.”

“I can believe it.”

Harry picked the broom up and felt the power rush through him as the spell on it took affect. It was HIS broom, and no one could touch it but him. That brought a smile to his face as he opened the letters from Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore.

“Dear Mr. Potter,” read McGonagalls, “Although I am not the head of the Slytherin House, I find it only right that you be informed of the items left behind by Mr. Draco Malfoy. According to a fellow professor, who will remain nameless, the trunk was left for you to go through should you return to Hogwarts. Unfortunately, that time is now. I cannot disclose any further information through the mail, so if you would please put yourself on the Hogwart’s Express, September 1st, and join the other Professors and myself for a bit… I will explain all you need to know when you arrive. I am sorry to inform you of this on your birthday, but it has only just come up.

Professor Minerva McGonagall

Head of Griffindor House

PS: Happy Birthday Harry.”

Harry rubbed his scar lightly, and tried to ignore the tingling feeling that had made itself quite known. Sirius stared at the letter in mute shock. Something about the way he quickly wiped the look from his face and continued eating gave Harry the impression that he knew more than he was letting on.

“Well, maybe Dumbledore’s is a little better.” Sirius said through a mouthful of eggs and pancakes.

“Doubt it.”

Harry put McGonagall’s letter back in the envelope and opened the one from Dumbledore. He dropped his fork to his plate as the first line hit the back of his brain with vengence.

“Harry- Please excuse the informality of this letter. I did not want to inform you by owl, I would have much rather told you in person, but fact of the matter is, it would not have been possible. I believe Professor McGonagall has asked you to return to Hogwart’s ASAP, and it is very unlike me to demand something of my students, so I hope you can understand the extremity of this situation. You MUST return to Hogwart’s via the Express on the first! The Order of the Phoenix has been broken; the Ancients have been Summoned.

See you on the first.

Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster, Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

PS: It’s time for Prongs to return to Hogwarts. (Bring Padfoot with you)”

Sirius cleared his plate and moved to the storage closet, where he pulled his trunk and started throwing things in. Harry pushed his plate awaya and stood. He picked the Dragon’s Blade up from his desk and then took the small box Sirius had seen him take out the night before.

“Sirius, don’t ask.” was all he said as he pulled the Dragon’s Eye Diamond pendant from the box and ran into his bedroom.

Sirius moved to watch, and quickly turned away. Harry stripped down to nothing, ran out into the living room, into the storage closet and pulled out a flat box, the Slytherin crest on the top. From it emerged a long black velvet robe, complete with hood and green and silver accents. Sirius could only stare as Harry slipped it on and then put the neclace on. The accents seemed to connect themselves to the pendant, and the animagus could only watch as Harry ran out the front door and headed for the roof. On instinct Sirius turned to Padfoot and followed.

Once he reached the roof, Harry stepped up on the ledge, and looked out over the street. Luckily, being 6 stories up on a Tuesday, and at quarter after 4 in the morning, not many people were outside to see him. Padfoot sat down by the door, his careful eyes watching for any sign of foul intention.

Harry pulled the Blade out of its sheeth and much like Liono from the 1980’s cartoon “Thundercats”, he looked into the diamond in the center. Both it and its twin in the pendant flared white, and he could see Draco, standing in his bathroom, just about to drop his terrycloth robe…

“Some how, don’t ask me how, I knew that you were alive…” Harry whispered darkly, his green eyes narrow as he pushed the Blade straight away from him, still looking into the Diamond. “And if you’re alive, then you belong HERE!”

Padfoot barked and lunged forward, only to be restrained by a strong hand on the scruff of his neck. Looking back, teeth barred, he saw Severus Snape, dressed very much like Harry, hood drawn up over his head, hiding his dark eyes. The animagus growled and made an attempt to bite, only to find that his jaws were held shut by a muzzle of silver light.

“Trust him Padfoot, all will work out in the end.”

Sirius could only watch in horror as Harry pointed the tip of the Blade at his chest, and a thin beam of blue light connected to where he had stabbed himself three years prior. The pendant around his neck seemed to scream, and it moved, seemingly alive as the Diamond intercepted the beam. Harry gasped in pain as the connection went straight through, and in a flash of light, the pendant was a living dragon, small enough to sit in the palm of his hand, the Diamond no where to be seen. It flew around his hand, and then with another scream, plunged into the Diamond in the Blade. A flash of blue electricity blinded him for a second before he saw that the Dragon was clawing at the Diamond, which was glowing softly. With a small smile, Harry ran the tip of the Blade across his palm, and before a drop could be lost, held his hand above the dragon. It looked up with shining blue eyes and caught the few precious drops. The Diamond flared and the roar of a dragon echoed over all three men on the roof, a blinding white light erupting from Harry’s body.

“DRACO!!” he screamed, falling to his knees, eyes glowing brightly as tears streamed down his face.

~!*^*!~

He pushed his platinum blonde hair from his eyes, and leaned heavily on the shower wall. The tile was cold beneath his hands, and he tought it extremely strange that he should be so warm. Blinking the water out of his eyes he saw red running down the wall where his hand was, and pulling it to him quickly noticed that there was a thin cut across his palm.

As he thought about the wound, an intense burning rose in his chest, and spread throughout his entire body. He saw the cut start to close, taking on the familiar shape of a lightning bolt scar… He gasped in realization and ran out of the shower, slamming his bloodied fist so hard on the crystal knob that it shattered. Without a backwards glance he cast a repairing spell (“Reparo!”) on the knob and pulled on his robe. The scar on his hand burned slightly, and he could feel himself start to change. He grabbed his Elemental Pendant, clasped it around his neck and stormed out of the bathroom. He grabbed his outfit for the night, pulled on his thong, then the leather pants, silver-navy mesh tank (think fishnet stockings as a silky, stretch muscle shirt that hugs every curve… drool… ^__~;), and white, french cuffed dress shirt, and without any effort at all, jumped three feet off the floor. As he came down, his socks materialized on his feet and he landed in his combat boots, silver-green laces tying on their own. As he walked out of his bedroom he picked up his wand, and as he ran down the stairs, summoned his long black leather jacket and old Slytherin scarf. His shirt buttoned on it’s own, leaving the top 3 undone, and in a swirl of green, he had a pair of spiked ‘biker’ gloves on, a silver serpent embroidered on the back of one, and on the opposite glove’s palm (the same Harry had cut on himself, and the one that materialized on Malfoy) was a lightning bolt.

He stalked into his mother’s old study and flipped open a small box on the desk. Inside, sitting on a black velvet pillow, was a single silver hoop hearing, a diamond chip set in the loop. There were two identical silver rings, each with the words “Amore Fatal” engraved magically into them, and a small black box sitting with it. With a sneer Malfoy put the earring on and then slipped on one of the rings. The other materialized a thin silver chain around his neck, and hung there quietly. He pocketed the box, and tapped his wand on his temple. In another swirl of green, his silver-blue eyes were accented with thick black liner, and a bit of dark grey shadow both on the upper and lower lids. Dark mascara made his lashes look longer than natural, and he had a shimmer of silver sparkles flying from the corners of his eyes, and on his lips. The snake like light twisted between his fingers, and when he looked, his nails were painted with a chrome polish. He could almost see himself in his nails. He smirked as he picked up a pair of slender, dark sunglasses, put them on and ran to the front door. Once on the stoop, he looked to the sky, held his wand in line with his heart and then twirled it between his fingers.

“I’m coming Love.” he said before disappearing in a flurry of glittering blue light.

~!*^*!~

He appeared two streets down from Harry’s apartment, in a dark and dingy alleyway between an laundry and café, and with a simple sneer, he was no longer standing as Draco Malfoy. No, in his place now stood a great Doberman, spiked red leather collar around his neck, his pendant hanging as his ID tag. He narrowed his un-canine eyes and took off down the street. People didn’t seem to stay in his way too long, or they were litterally thrown out of the way. Should they look at the ground, they would see slight burn marks in the dogs wake… as paw prints.

~!*^*!~

Sirius placed Harry in his bed, the robe hanging up in his closet, and dressed in just a pair of black boxers. He didn’t dare remove the glowing diamond sphere around his neck, nor did he try to move the Dragon’s Blade from its place beside his bed. The small chrome-like dragon from the pendant stood on the Blade’s diamond, and stared lovingly at Harry. Sirius didn’t have a clue as to what was going on… but it was quite apparent that Severus Snape did.

“Tell me Snape, how did you know what was going to happen?”

“The only thing I can tell you Sirius is that I have kept my end of the bargain. The only thing I can do now is wait.”
”You’re not helping!”

“Look at it this way: Draco and Harry are the only two that can control the Dragon’s Eye Diamond, and in such, are bound to each other. Draco protected Harry with his life during the final battle against Voldermont, and part of Harry died with him. Draco thought it wasn’t possible for Harry to love him, because of what he had done to him, and in such made up his mind to die for the man he loved. Part of Harry said Draco was dead, because he was there, but another part of him said he couldn’t be dead, because if he was, the pendant wouldn’t react to anything. You see Sirius, when the bearer dies, the Diamond becomes dull and waits for its master to be reborn. By the looks of things, does it look like Malfoy could be dead?”

Sirius looked over at the dragon, and it stared back before letting out a shriek. Both men turned to the door to see a nearly out of breath doberman standing there, looking at them with narrow silver-blue eyes. Eyes that said “get the hell out of my way,” and Sirius immediately became Padfoot.

<What do you want here, Hell Hound!?> he demanded.

“Sirius, don’t.” Snape intervened, placing a hand on the animagus’ head, “just get out of the way. It won’t hurt him.”

<Him? You mean Harry? Oh no, it’s not getting anywhere near him!>

Padfoot growled loudly, and moved to circle the Hell Hound. The beast didn’t move, but merely followed him with his eyes. This made Sirius even more angry.

Padfoot snarled and lunged for the intruder, only to be blasted back by some sort of invisible energy. He knew the voice that had spoken, but where? He stood up and shook himself off and again made an attempt to grab the black and tan beast, but missed as it ran into the bedroom (which Snape had convieniently opened for him),& jumped on the bed. Sirius shifted back to his human form, and watched as the dog stared down at Harry, then at the sleeping dragon on the Blade. It let out a mournful howl and then started to cry. It nudged Harry’s cheek and pressed its nose to the hollow of his throat before red energy started to crackle around him. Sirius moved forward fast as lightning to grab it, but Snape held him back, pushing him towards the door.

“We should leave! Now!” shouted the potions master.

“Not with that thing-“
”He won’t hurt your Godson, I promise! Just leave them be!”

“Not on your life!”

“Sirius, PLEASE!!”

The energy in the room had risen to a dull roar, and the doberman’s eyes were glowing white as he growled at the two older men. Snape continued to push Sirius towards the door, with little success.

“SIRIUS!!” Snape cried, his face pale and body shaking uncontrollably as he held his head in pain, “OUT!!”

“Snape?! What the-“

The Doberman let out a howl of pain as his eyes sparked with fire. Shaking himself as if he were wet, the doberman disappeared, leaving a human in its place.

“God DAMNIT! GET OUT!!!” he screamed, the energy in the room cracking as he screamed.

Snape let out a cry of pain as Sirius helped him to his feet and rushed them both out of the room. He had no idea what was happening, but as far as he was concerned, he’d rather keep his own head than stick around to find out. From what he could tell, Harry was in no immediate danger, and as soon as the energy in the room died down a bit, he would be back to ask- DEMAND – answers.

“Oh Harry… come on Luv, open your eyes… Please Harry, open your eyes!” Malfoy cried as his power reached out and connected with the pendant around his loves neck and with the Blade sitting on the bedside table. “The wound is internal this time, isn’t it? You really did die to be with me that day…”

He reached over and picked up the glowing Blade, the dragon wizzing around him before surging back into the diamond at Harry’s chest. He quickly tapped the Blade at his own chest, and it disappeared from his hand, reappearing in its sheath on the dresser. The dark haired boy gasped, his eyes flying open as Draco’s power hit him, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around the man above him, drawing the warm body closer. Malfoy smiled, a real smile, and laid down, his face burried in Harry’s neck and longish hair. He slipped his arms under the man he had so desperately wanted to keep safe, and held him protectively. Nothing would interupt this moment, absolutely nothing.

“Draco…”

“Shh… it’s alright, I’m here.”
”Oh gods… you’re… you’re alive!”
”I’m so sorry…”

Draco pushed himself up onto his elbows and stared down into the endless depths of Harry’s emerald eyes, and all he could do was smile sadly as Harry reached up and fingered the Element at his throat. Without a sound, the Boy Who Lived reached over

to his night table drawer and pulled out his own, and as it touched Draco’s hand, started to glow lightly. The blonde boy smiled slightly and got up. Harry sat up and raked a hand through his hair, noticing that Draco’s eyes had not once strayed from his own. Even with the sunlight pouring through the windows, making the room seem to glow, he was cold. He missed the warmth the other boy had brought.

“Come back here.” he said quietly, clasping the necklace around his throat, and taking Draco’s pendant off.

“You don’t want an explaination?”
”Right now, all I want is for you to get over here and hold me. I’m so cold.”
”Well you’re the stupid git that had to go and bond himself to me…”
”Just shut up and get over here Malfoy.”

With a flick of his wand, Draco was declothed, save his thong (AN: Fangirls/guys, you can all start drooling now…), and climbed back into the king-size bed. Pulling the blankets up over them he felt Harry clasp the pendant around his neck, and kissed the scar on his ebony-haired love. Harry pulled him down and kissed him soundly, and no explaination was needed.

~!*^*!~

Stalking into her cauldron room, she saw the two most powerful wizards sharing their first intimate moment, and snorted in disgust. She stroked the head of the gian serpent that lay coiled around the base of her mirror, and conjured up a chair. The snake laid its head in her lap and she absentmindedly stirred the contents of her cauldron with the tip of her wand.

“So you’ve learned of your standing, and of the bonding… this will not be as easy as Father thought. You will not turn against the Master again Draco Malfoy, I do not permit it!”

She flung the remaining potion off her wand at the mirror, and the scene changed to that of Hogwarts. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Hagrid and Hermione sat around a table in the Three Broomsicks, and from what she could make out, they were talking about the Order of the Phoenix. She smiled and stood up.

“So that is why the Boy Who Lived called that worthless dragon back to him! The Ancients are all coming together, but for what? I have not made my existance known… hmmm… I must consult my books.”

She walked out of the room, chair disappearing and the door shutting behind her. The serpent looked at the mirror and hissed, its glowing green eyes sad as it looked at the returned image of Draco and Harry. As it moved to the mirror it took a human form. A small girl, no older than 10 or 11 stood before the mirror, her straight mousy brown hair cut to just below her ears, with a long rat tail hanging down her back. She was dressed in a black robe, a snake emblem holding the green accent scarf secure, and she had no shoes on.

“I don’t understand why we should cause these two so much pain and suffering, but if it is what Father would have wanted…”

She turned away from the now pictureless mirror to the cauldron, and stood by it. As she looked in at the boiling silver liquid she pulled her robe sleeve back, and saw the normally pale scar on her forearm turn black. She bit back tears as pain seared through her, and she let the sleeve fall back over it. She moved back to the mirror and once again, the serpent curled around the base, tears of blood drying on the floor where its head lay.

~TBC~

There are no foot notes for this chapter. I thought everything was pretty straight forward. I just read one of the BEST fics out there (IMO). It’s called “Snitch!”, by Al. Here’s a short summary:

SLASH. London, 2003, and two old enemies have become partners in crime. But the wizarding world is out to disrupt Harry's none too peaceful existence ... sex, guns, rock n' roll, drugs and bad language abound in a fast paced romantic thriller.

Other pairings: Draco/Ron, Hermione/Charlie, Seamus/Justin

Harry and Draco as GANGSTERS?!? Holy. Fucking. SHIT!! Read it! URL below!

www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Al/Snitch/